Chinese youth independent and care for society

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-24 19:29

Bi and her friends denied stereotyped accusations by both some Chinese and foreigners that the "Post-90s" (a term to refer to those born after 1990), a generation in which a majority are single children, were self-centered.

Huang Qiaoying, Bi's friend who is 21, said they also paid attention to social issues despite a busy academic schedule.

"Social issues are not always on our lips, but it does not mean that we don't care about it," she said.

"Our generation perceives things differently from our predecessors. The ways for us to show our concern over social issues are different from our parents. Just take a look at the numerous online postings by young people in forums and BBS (Bulletin Board Service)," she said.

She said she and her peers would do more instead of talking more.

Last year, Huang joined tens of thousands of young people to provide volunteer service during the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics. Their selfless contribution including information services, interpretation and first aid were widely applauded by the international community.

Zhang Jianguo, editor-in-chief of a popular magazine named the China Campus, said today's college students have concerns different from those of 20 years ago.

"College students paid more attention to the ideological sphere and political system 20 years ago, but today's students start to address human rights, ecological protection and welfare of the disadvantaged. They have also paid specific attention to college student serving as village officials and democracy in grassroot communities," he said.

Bi Jia said she and her friends all thought that China still needed improvement and could learn from the Americans in many areas.

"There were also areas for the United States to make improvement and learn from China. No country is perfect," she said.

Bi said she was a feminist and cared about women's inequalities in the job market. And some of her classmates and friends chose to have their own ways to show their concern for the country and the society.

Now there's a trend of studying ancient Chinese literature on campus and some college students started to pick up Chinese calligraphy, a traditional art with waning influence as computer input becomes more popular, according to Bi.

The students did all these out of their wish to better promote Chinese culture. Bi said that's her generation's way to show care about social issues.

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